Platform

Questions and Answers

Questions from the League of Women Voters

Q: What is your assessment of the development of the new Millcreek City Center? Should a new Millcreek government office complex be included there?

A: I don’t believe the majority of District 2 residents are in favor of the high-rise apartment complexes that they will be looking at rather than the beautiful mountains that we see now. The Planning Commission had originally lowered the height of the buildings to be built in that area, and then for some reason, it changed. I like the idea of a city center, and if we’re building it we might as well put in the government offices, but I think it’s time to start thinking about the increased cost to property owners because of the increased density and the necessary increase in police, firefighters, streets, and other resources. I know I voted for this area to be the city center, but I didn’t understand that that meant it would be another downtown or another Sugarhouse.

Q: Would you vote in favor of digital billboards at Millcreek Common by changing the Millcreek master plan and ordinance? Please explain your position.

A: I don’t believe the master plan and ordinances should be so easily changed to accommodate developers. I don’t like the way there was such little time for the public, the community council, and the Planning Commission to weigh in on this. I also don’t like how much money has been spent in man-hours for something the public didn’t know about and might not approve of. I think there are many questions that need to be answered such as; -How much the billboard is worth -How much the advertising cost is worth between a traditional billboard vs a digital one. -Only committing to trade the one billboard that needs to be removed, plus what’s in the billboard bank, versus the three billboards. -What the plans are for the property owners who receive an income from the billboard company and how they’ll be compensated. There are many questions that need to be answered before a decision is made, and everybody should have been given enough time to ask and get their questions answered.

Questions from Constituents

Q: I am a member of the Big Cottonwood Lower Canal Company (secondary/irrigation) water. I wanted to get your position on an issue. There is a stormwater fee associated with living in Millcreek. It is part of our power bill. Some of the Millcreek storm water currently runs through the infrastructure owned by Big Cottonwood Lower Canal Company. The infrastructure is getting older and because the city of Millcreek uses our system to move stormwater I was wondering if you would support using some of the storm water fee money to help maintain our system since Millcreek also uses it move the storm water? It seems it would be in the best interest of Millcreek, SLC county, and the state of Utah to upgrade the current system rather than build a whole new storm system to avoid using the canals owned by the BLCC and other canal companies. Please let me know your thoughts before election day.

A: As I understand it, the stormwater fee was created to update the stormwater infrastructure. Since it was implemented, Millcreek has put in a storm drain in front of my property because all of the water from the street ran into my front yard and pooled on the sidewalk, making the sidewalk unable to be used by pedestrians. I don’t believe stormwater and irrigation water should be mixed. The water in the storm drains can be very dirty with pollutants as people are not very smart about what they will allow to go into those drains. The main reason for irrigation water is to water gardens and vegetation. We don’t want those pollutants to contaminate our fresh veggies. That being said, I am in total agreement with you that the irrigation system needs to be upgraded, as much of it is extremely old and the infrastructure is falling apart. I do believe that it is in the best interest of the cities, the state, and the irrigation companies to figure out a more appropriate way to distribute the water and make improvements to the infrastructure. If elected, I will make this a top priority in Millcreek.

Comments

Hi Lynda, I came to Utah a few years ago from San Diego and was delighted to find Millcreek. I rented for the first 2 years and just purchased a.new condo in Capri Homes. I’ve had many frustrations and disappointments with the developers. What I thought was going to be a lovely view has now been built up and the view is gone. I agree with you on so many issues and am glad to know there are other proactive members in this community. You definitely have my vote and thank you so much for being such a dedicated member of this small but mighty city.